If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Retriever not retrieving

I have a 14 week old female chocolate lab from pretty good blood lines. I'm young and new to this kind of training. When I throw a bumper she will go out to it and sit there and chew on it. How do I get her to come back to me with it? She has chew toys and rawhide bones are they causing the problem?

I have a 14 week old female chocolate lab from pretty good blood lines. I'm young and new to this kind of training. When I throw a bumper she will go out to it and sit there and chew on it. How do I get her to come back to me with it? She has chew toys and rawhide bones are they causing the problem?

Got a rope? and get ride of the rawhide chewtoys (can cause blockages), squeaky toys are dangerous as well. For chewing use a deer antler or nylabone.

Back to the retrieve question, a rope works well to bring them back. You can also begin to walk away once the pup reaches the bumper, they will usually follow with bumper in mouth.

Heh, at 14 weeks I'm not sure that anything is a "command", more of a request. Use a rope on the pup, throw the bumper, let pup run to it, when she gets to it tell her "here", "good girl", etc, be very animated, slowly pull her back to you, giver her the chance to pick up the bumper of course but don't worry too much if she drops it, just give a bit of slack if she tries to go back to it to let her pick it up again, no worries if she doesnt pick it up though, then keep pulling her back to you, stay animated, praise her a ton when she gets back to you with or without the bumper. Repeat once or twice but no more. She will figure out that if she wants the bumper that she will need to pick it up and hold it all the way back to you. Enforcement comes later.

"The thing I admire about the rat tail is that it takes commitment. It's not like one day you just decide you want one, you have to grow out that bad boy and you have to repeatedly convince the hairdresser to trust you because it's a great idea."

Sounds like you have a good lab, as she does chase the bumper. All of the above information is good, get a 20' or 30' rope and use it to help her back to you. Don't take the bumper away from her, instead slowly help her give it, in time she will understand the game. Obedience training is critical..."Sit", "Here" are critcal coupled with 'Down", "Give", "Leave it".....I have trained 5 retrievers by going to a obedience class...low cost and really helps me keep on track. Then my yard work is more fun and fruitful. I have an 18 week old girl now, her obedience is going well, in class and her yard work is also progressing. I will take her to a pro trainer for 60 days in May.....when I get her back I will have a great hunting dog!

Also, consider getting the "Training a Retriever Puppy" with Bill Hillmann. My breeder recommend this DVD and it really breaks this initial training down....do a search on the web to find it....not expensive....as I recall...Good Luck!

What you are learning in all these answers above is that the instinct in a retriever is not to retrieve but to hold something in their mouth. Retrieving it to you is a TRAINED response that you have to help the dog learn. They will chase it but it becomes theirs until you train them to return with it. This is our teaching part as handlers which is to train the pup to bring it back.

Once the pup learns because of your teaching and training that the game of chasing the bumper can continue if they bring it back to you they will love the game.

Also, don't let him/her have the bumper except when you play the game. It's not a chew toy.

BHB

Ahhhh, the smell of a bay dog... nothin finer!

One who lives this life without plans for eternity may appear to be wise for the moment but a fool forever.

Our lives are not made by the dreams we dream but by the choices we make.

"Any man who thinks he can be happy and prosperous by letting the American
Government take care of him; better take a closer look at the American
Indian." Henry Ford

14 wks and she'll chase a bumper, let her chase the bumper, don't worry about the return yet, let her chase those bumpers as far as she will chase them. Work on here etc. without the bumpers , soon it'll all come together. Chasing is marking, marking is good, going out on her own is good. Retrieve will come later, you can start with hallway retrieves, to get her to bring it back, but you might want to use something softer and lighter than a bumper. Plastic bumpers can be heavy for a pup, they can also hurt their teeth, you don't want a bumper to be associated with painful mouth. If all she's doing is running to the bumper and not picking it up, your good, now when they start picking it up and running off (15-16 weeks) a rope is your friend , I'd get HERE trained and enforced before that happens .

Last edited by Hunt'EmUp; 03-29-2013 at 12:08 PM.

"They's Just DAWGS"
"Hunting is a skill to be learned whether you do it early or late it still needs to be learned"
"I train dogs, Not papers"